The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 ended a volatile overnight session marginally higher following a late turnaround, but a drop in biotechs and energy shares kept a lid on the market.
Australian Stock Report head of research Chris Conway said the better performance from Wall Street overnight despite commodity price falls, including a fresh 11-year low for oil fuelled by Chinese growth concerns, was giving the ASX some hope.
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"There are signs of life this morning," he said.
"We saw a fairly strong fightback on Wall Street overnight with the S&P down more than one per cent at one stage to rally pretty hard near the close and to finish just in positive territory."
The Dow finished 0.32 per cent higher at 16,398.57, and the S&P 500 was up 0.09 per cent to 1,923.67 while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.12 per cent to 4,637.99.
"There are signs of life this morning."
On the local share market, the big four banks were all higher with Commonwealth Bank up $1.51, or 1.92 per cent, at $80.15, National Australia Bank lifting 35 cents, or 1.28 per cent, to $27.77, ANZ gaining 22 cents, or 0.87 per cent, to $25.37, and Westpac 54 cents, or 1.77 per cent, better off at $31.10.
But the mining and energy sectors continue to suffer.
BHP Billiton was down 24 cents at $15.31, while Rio Tinto dropped 94 cents to $39.56 and Fortescue Metals was three cents lower at $1.61.
Woodside Petroleum was down 32 cents at $27.31, while Santos was down 15 cents at $3.06.
Key facts
- At 1015 AEDT on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up
- 24.5 points, or 0.50 per cent, at 4,956.7 points.
- The broader All Ordinaries index was up 22.0 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 5,012.7 points.
- The March share price index futures contract was up 43 points at 4,909 points, with 13,212 contracts traded.
- National turnover was 149 million securities traded worth $226
million.
